Gail Kim
| birth_place = Toronto, Ontario, Canada | death_date = | death_place = | resides = Tampa, Florida | billed = Tampa, Florida Toronto, Ontario, Canada | trainer = El Fuego Fit Finlay Ron Hutchinson | debut = December 2000 | retired = }} Gail Kim (February 20, 1977) is a Canadian professional wrestler of Korean descent, who is currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where she is the currently one half of the TNA Knockouts Tag Team Champions with Madison Rayne. She is also known for working with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). She began her career wrestling as La Felina on the Canadian independent circuit, before joining WWE in 2002 as Gail Kim. In her WWE debut match, she won the WWE Women's Championship. After being released by WWE in 2004, Kim joined TNA in September 2005. There, she joined the tag team America's Most Wanted as their valet. After the dissolution of the group, Kim performed as a singles wrestler, eventually going on to become the inaugural TNA Women's Knockout Champion in October 2007. She later left TNA in August 2008, to return to WWE three months later, making her televised return in March 2009. She announced on August 5, 2011 that she had quit WWE via her Twitter account. The following October she returned to TNA. Career Early career and training After obtaining her degree from Ryerson University, Kim decided to become a professional wrestler and joined Ron Hutchinson's "School of Pro Wrestling" in Toronto. She received supplementary training from Rob Etchevarria at the "Squared Circle Pro Wrestling Gym". She debuted in December 2000, wearing a mask and wrestling as "The Queen of the Cats" La Felina in the Southern Ontario-based Apocalypse Wrestling Federation and was eventually unmasked by Tracy Brooks in a "Mask versus Hair" match. Kim worked on the Canadian independent circuit for two years, wrestling for promotions such as Border City Wrestling. World Wrestling Entertainment (2002–2004) Kim was introduced to World Wrestling Federation (WWF) employee Nora Greenwald (known on-screen as Molly Holly) by Jason Sensation in 2001; Greenwald encouraged Kim to send her videos and tapes to WWF officials, which eventually led to her contract. In October 2002, she was hired by the WWF, now renamed World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). She spent eight months training in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) and appearing in house shows and dark matches before being called up to the main roster. After several weeks of vignettes showcasing Matrix-like effects aired on Raw, Kim debuted on June 30 as a fan favorite, with a Matrix-inspired outfit. Her first televised WWE match was a seven-woman battle royal in Buffalo, New York on the June 30, 2003 episode of Raw with the WWE Women's Championship, then held by an injured Jazz, on the line. Kim won the match by lastly eliminating Victoria. Kim held the title for four weeks, before losing it to Molly Holly on the July 28, 2003 episode of Raw. Subsequently, Kim formed an alliance with Holly to take on Trish Stratus, who was later assisted by Lita. At WWE's Unforgiven PPV event on September 21, 2003, Stratus and Lita defeated Kim and Holly in a tag match. The four women continued to feud until November, when Kim was sidelined with a broken right collarbone. Kim returned to Raw in April 2004 and immediately reforged her alliance with Holly. At WWE's Bad Blood PPV event on June 13, 2004, she faced Lita, Stratus, and Victoria in a Fatal Four-Way for the WWE Women's Championship, which was won by Stratus. Kim participated in a battle royal on October 19, 2004 at WWE's Taboo Tuesday PPV event, which was won by Stratus. She, however, was released by WWE on November 3, 2004 as a result of cost cutting. Kim was caught off guard by her release and was told that management wanted to take the women's division in a new direction. Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2005–2008) America's Most Wanted Following her release and the expiration of her 90-day no-compete clause, Kim made sporadic appearances on the independent circuit, including at Michigan's All World Wrestling League and in Japan. She also competed in Korea and Mexico before being signed by the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) promotion on September 6, 2005. She made her TNA debut on the October 8, 2005 episode of TNA's television program TNA Impact!, aligning herself with Jeff Jarrett and America's Most Wanted (AMW) (Chris Harris and James Storm) and taking on the role of AMW's and Jarrett's manager. Kim made her in-ring debut on July 16, 2006 at TNA's Victory Road PPV event in a Six Man Mixed Tag Team match with AMW against A.J. Styles, Christopher Daniels, and Sirelda. However, her team ended up on the losing end of the contest. At TNA's Hard Justice PPV event on August 13, 2006, Kim defeated Sirelda in a standard wrestling match. In early 2007 after the dissolution of AMW, Kim began a more active role as an in-ring competitor in TNA. This began with an on-screen feud with her former alliance, Storm, and his new manager Jacqueline. The first encounter between the group was on February 11, 2007 at TNA's Against All Odds PPV event in a Mixed Tag Team match, which Kim and her partner, Petey Williams, lost. On March 11, 2007 at TNA's Destination X PPV event, Storm and Jacqueline won a rematch against Williams and Kim in a Double Bullrope match. Kim went on to defeat Jacqueline in a Six Sides of Steel cage match on April 15, 2007 at TNA's Lockdown PPV event. Their feud came to an end on the May 3, 2007 episode of TNA Impact!, when Kim defeated Moore under street fight rules. Singles competitor After the conclusion to her feud with Moore, Kim made two minor TNA PPV appearances before outlasting nine other competitors in a ten-woman gauntlet match to crown the first TNA Women's World Champion on October 14, 2007 at TNA's Bound for Glory PPV event. She made her first title defense on November 11, 2007 at TNA's Genesis PPV event; there she successfully retain the title by defeating Roxxi Laveaux, ODB, and Angel Williams. Kim then began a feud with Awesome Kong over the championship. Their first encounter occurred on December 2, 2007 at TNA's Turning Point PPV event, which resulted in Kim retaining due to a disqualification by Kong. On January 6, 2008 at TNA's Final Resolution PPV event, Kim defeated Kong in their second encounter to retain the championship under no disqualification rules. In their third and final encounter on the January 10, 2008 episode of TNA Impact!, Kong defeated Kim to win the TNA Women's World Championship. During the January 24, 2008 episode of TNA Impact!, Kim was awarded the 2007 TNA Knockout of the Year award. Kim competed in a three way match on March 9, 2008 at TNA's Destination X PPV event against Kong and ODB, which Kong won. On April 13, 2008 at TNA's Lockdown PPV event, she teamed with ODB to defeat the team of Raisha Saeed and Kong in a tag team match. On May 11, 2008 at TNA's Sacrifice PPV event, Kim won a TNA Knockouts Makeover Battle Royal, which involved a battle royal and then a ladder match, to become new one contender to the renamed TNA Women's Knockout Championship. Kim competed for the championship on the May 15, 2008 episode of TNA Impact!, however failed to win the title. At TNA's Slammiversary PPV event on June 8, 2008, Kim teamed with ODB and Roxxi to defeat The Beautiful People (Angelina Love and Velvet Sky) and Moose in a Six Woman Tag Team match. Kim defeated Love on July 13, 2008 at TNA's Victory Road PPV event. Kim then teamed with ODB and Taylor Wilde to defeat the team of Kong and The Beautiful People on August 10, 2008 at TNA's Hard Justice PPV event in her last TNA PPV match. Kim's final TNA match aired on the August 21, 2008 episode of TNA Impact! in a losing effort to Kong under street fight rules. Kim left TNA in mid-August 2008 after the terms of her contract expired. Return to World Wrestling Entertainment (2009–2011) Return; SmackDown (2009) After her contract expired with TNA, Kim re-signed the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) promotion in late-2008. She made her return on the March 27, 2009 episode of SmackDown, when she interrupted a WWE Divas Championship match between Michelle McCool and Maryse by attacking both competitors. Kim made her in-ring return on the March 30, 2009 episode of Raw on the winning team of an 18-Diva tag team match. Kim participated in a 25-Diva Miss WrestleMania battle royal on April 5, 2009 at WWE's WrestleMania XXV PPV event. On the April 17, 2009 episode of SmackDown, Kim defeated then-Divas Champion Maryse. This earned her a championship match the following week, which she failed to win. Raw (2009–2011) On the June 29, 2009 episode of Raw, Kim was traded to the Raw brand as part of a 15 wrestler tri-brand trade between Raw, SmackDown, and ECW. A few weeks later on the August 10, 2009 episode of Raw, she gained another title shot by winning a Fatal 4-Way match, that also involved Beth Phoenix, Kelly Kelly, and Alicia Fox, to become number one contender. She was unsuccessful in winning the championship on the August 17, 2009 episode of Raw, when she faced then-champion Mickie James. At WWE's Bragging Rights PPV event on October 25, 2009, Kim, with Melina and Kelly Kelly, represented Raw in a losing effort to McCool, Phoenix, and Natalya, representing SmackDown. Kim was on the winning side of a five-on-five Survivor Series Elimination match on November 22, 2009 at WWE's Survivor Series PPV event. In early-2010, a tournament was held for the newly vacated Divas Championship. Kim defeated Jillian Hall and Fox to make it to the finals, where she faced Maryse for the vacant title. The finals were held on the February 22, 2010 episode of Raw, which Maryse won to become the new champion. The finals were originally to be held on February 21, 2010 at WWE's Elimination Chamber PPV event, but the match was changed to the team of Maryse and Kim versus Team Lay-Cool (McCool and Layla), which was won by the later. Kim was apart of the losing side of a 10-Diva tag team match at WWE's WrestleMania XXVI PPV event on March 28, 2010. At WWE's Fatal 4-Way PPV event on June 20, 2010, Kim challenged for the Divas Championship in a Fatal 4-Way match that also involved then-champion Eve, Maryse, and Fox; however, Fox won the contest. Kim appeared sporadically on television for the rest of 2010 competing mainly in multiple diva tag matches and wrestling mainly on Superstars. However she was placed in an angle with Daniel Bryan in early 2011 where she was revealed to be his girlfriend of the past six months, much to the ire of The Bella Twins who had been pursuing Bryan. This turned The Bellas heel and they immediately started feuding with Kim and the WWE Divas Champion Eve Torres. Kim's on-screen relationship with Daniel Bryan ended when Bryan was sent to SmackDown as part of the 2011 WWE Draft. On May 23, 2011 Gail kim teamed up with Kelly Kelly, Eve Torres and Beth Phoenix, against The Bella Twins, Maryse and Melina. The match, however ended in a no-contest following an interruption by Kharma. On the June 9 edition of WWE Superstars Kim teamed with Eve Torres in a losing effort to Maryse and Melina. On the August 1 edition of Raw, Gail Kim participated in a battle royal to determine the number one contender for the Divas Championship, but ended up eliminating herself at the start of the match. She later explained that WWE had ordered her to get out of the match in a minute, so she decided to just eliminate herself. On August 5, Gail Kim announced on her Twitter page that she had quit the WWE following the incident. Kim later indicated that WWE did not grant her release, but would instead force her to stay with the promotion for the remainder of her contract. Kim's WWE.com profile was removed on September 30, indicating that she had officially left the company. Return to TNA Wrestling (2011–present) Kim returned to TNA on the October 20 episode of Impact Wrestling, attacking new TNA Women's Knockout Champion Velvet Sky and aligning herself with Karen Jarrett and Madison Rayne, thus establishing herself as a villain. The following week, Jarrett named Kim the number one contender to Sky's title, before she went on to defeat Tara in her TNA return match. At the tapings of the November 3 episode of Impact Wrestling, Kim and Rayne defeated Brooke Tessmacher and Tara to win the TNA Knockout Tag Team Championship. Personal life Gail Kim was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on February 20, 1977. Kim majored in kinesiology at the University of Toronto before transferring to Ryerson University and changing her major to nutrition. Prior to signing with WWE, Kim undertook breast augmentation surgery. After signing, she had her implants enlarged. While performing for WWE, one of her implants ruptured, which resulted in her being sidelined for two weeks. Kim posed topless for a cell phone ad campaign in South Korea. In 2007, Kim was listed as 31 on Forbes top 40 list of "America's Most Eligible Bachelorettes". In 2009, Kim was apart of the cast of the independent psychological thriller entitled Royal Kill. In wrestling *'Finishing moves' **''Christo'' / Flying Dragon (Tilt-a-whirl headscissors armbar) **''Eat Defeat'' (Inverted stomp facebreaker) – WWE **''Happy Ending'' (Straight jacket neckbreaker slam) **Hurricanrana pin **Over the shoulder back to belly piledriver – TNA *'Signature moves' **Diving leg drop **Dragon sleeper **Front missile dropkick **Over the shoulder single leg boston crab **Springboard arm drag **''Toronto Slam'' (Double leg slam) *'Wrestlers managed' **America's Most Wanted (Chris Harris and James Storm) **Jeff Jarrett **Daniel Bryan *'Entrance themes' **"International Woman" by Dara Shindler (WWE) **"Unstoppable" by Dale Oliver (TNA) **"Strong and Sexy" by Jim Johnston (WWE) Championships and accomplishments *'Apocalypse Wrestling Federation' **Diva of the Year (2001) *'Funking Conservatory' **FC Women's Championship (1 time) *'Pro Wrestling Illustrated' **PWI ranked her #'3' of the best 50 female singles wrestlers in the PWI Female 50 in 2008 *'Total Nonstop Action Wrestling' **TNA Knockout Championship (2 times) **TNA Knockout Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Madison Rayne (1) **Knockout of the Year (2007) *'World Wrestling Entertainment' **WWE Women's Championship (1 time) See also *Gail Kim’s event history External links *TheGailKim.com (Official Website) *Gail Kim Official Myspace *Gail Kim's entrance theme zh:Gail Kim Category:American wrestlers Category:Female wrestlers Category:!Bang! alumni Category:Associacao Portugesa de Wrestling alumni Category:Ballpark Brawl alumni Category:Blood Sweat And Ears alumni Category:Border City Wrestling alumni Category:Jersey All Pro Wrestling alumni Category:Maryland Championship Wrestling alumni Category:Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling alumni Category:New Korea Pro Wrestling alumni Category:Northern Championship Wrestling alumni Category:Ohio Valley Wrestling alumni Category:Toryumon Mexico alumni Category:Total Nonstop Action Wrestling alumni Category:World Series Wrestling alumni Category:World Xtreme Wrestling alumni Category:1977 births Category:TNA Women's Knockout Champions Category:2000 debuts Category:Korean wrestlers Category:World Wrestling Entertainment alumni Category:Total Nonstop Action Wrestling current roster